Vishwashanti Gurukul World School

Academic year 24-25

Unit 2 Notes Enzymes – Introduction.

Enzymes are proteins that function as biological catalysts. So, they are molecules that
speed up a chemical reaction without being changed by the reaction.

Definition: Catalyst is a substance that speeds up a chemical reaction and is not

changed by the reaction.

Within any living organism, chemical reactions take place all the time. They are
sometimes called metabolic reactions. Almost every metabolic reaction is controlled by
catalysts called enzymes.

Definition: Enzymes are the proteins that function as biological catalysts.

Enzymes are given special names:

Enzymes are named according to the reaction that they catalyze.
For example, enzymes which catalyze the breakdown of carbohydrates are called
carbohydrase’s. If they break down proteins, they are proteases. If they break
down fats (lipids) they are lipases.
Sometimes, they are given more specific names than this. For example, we have
seen that the carbohydrase that breaks down starch is called amylase. One that
breaks down maltose is called maltase. One that breaks down sucrose is called
sucrase.
 Properties of enzymes:

1) All enzymes are proteins - This may seem rather odd because some enzymes actually
digest proteins.

2) Enzymes are made inactive by high temperature - This is because they are protein
molecules, which are damaged by heat.

3) Enzymes work best at a temperature - Enzymes which are found in the human body
usually work best at about 37 °C.

4) Enzymes work best at a pH - pH is a measure of how acid or alkaline a solution is.

Some enzymes work best in acid conditions (low pH). Others work best in alkaline
conditions (high pH).

5) Enzymes are catalysts - They are not changed in the chemical reactions which they
control. They can be used repeatedly, so a small amount of enzyme can change a lot of
substrates into a lot of product.

6) Enzymes are specific - This means that each kind of enzyme will only catalyze one
kind of chemical reaction.

Lock and key hypothesis:

Enzymes are folded into complex 3D shapes that allow smaller molecules to fit into
them. The place where these molecules fit is called the active site.
In the lock and key hypothesis, the shape of the active site matches the shape of its
substrate molecules. This makes enzymes highly specific.
Each type of enzyme can usually catalyze only one type of reaction (some may
catalyze a few types of reactions).
The diagram shows how this works. In this example, the enzyme splits one molecule
into two smaller ones.
 Denaturing enzymes

If enzymes are exposed to extremes of pH or high temperatures the shape of their active
site may change.

If this happens then the substrate will no longer fit into the enzymes. This means the
key will no longer fit the lock. We say that the enzyme has been denatured

High temperature denatures enzymes:

Most chemical reactions happen faster at higher temperatures. This is because the
molecules have more kinetic energy — they are moving around faster, so they
bump into each other more frequently.
This means that at higher temperatures an enzyme is likely to bump into its
substrate more often than at lower temperatures. They will also hit each other with
more energy, so the reaction is more likely to take place.
However, enzymes are damaged by high temperatures. For most human enzymes,
this begins to happen from about 40°C upwards. As the temperature increases
beyond this, the enzyme molecules start to lose their shape. The active site no
longer fits perfectly with the substrate. The enzyme is said to be denatured. It can
no longer catalyse the reaction.
The temperature at which an enzyme works fastest is called its optimum
temperature. Different enzymes have different optimum temperatures. For example,
enzymes from the human digestive system generally have an optimum of around
37°C. Enzymes from plants often have optimums around 28°C to 30°C. Enzymes
from bacteria that live in hot springs may have optimums as high as 75°C.

Effect of temperature, substrate concentration and pH on reaction rate:

The rate of an enzyme-catalyzed reaction is calculated by measuring the rate at which a

substrate is used up or by the rate at which a product is formed.

1. Temperature

As with many chemical reactions, the rate of an enzyme-catalyzed reaction increases as

the temperature increases. However, at high temperatures the rate decreases again
because the enzyme becomes denatured and can no longer function. This is shown in
the graph below.
 Source: Bam.Files.Bbci.Co.Uk, 2022, https://bam.files.bbci.co.uk/bam/live/content/z9cmsbk/large.

As the temperature increases so does the rate of enzyme activity. An optimum activity is
reached at the enzyme's optimum temperature. A continued increase in temperature
results in a sharp decrease in activity as the enzyme's active site changes shape. It is
now denatured.

Effects of pH

Changes in pH also alter the shape of an enzyme’s active site. Each enzyme work bests
at a specific pH value. The optimum pH for an enzyme depends on where it normally
works. For example, enzymes in the small intestine have an optimum pH of about 7.5,
but stomach enzymes have an optimum pH of about 2.

Source: Bam.Files.Bbci.Co.Uk, 2022, https://bam.files.bbci.co.uk/bam/live/content/z9cmsbk/large.

In the graph above, as the pH increases so does the rate of enzyme activity. An optimum
activity is reached at the enzyme’s optimum pH, pH 8 in this example. A continued
increase in pH results in a sharp decrease in activity as the enzyme’s active site changes
shape. It is now denatured.
 2. Substrate concentration
Enzymes will work best if there is plenty of substrate. As the concentration of the
substrate increases, so does the rate of enzyme activity. However, the rate of enzyme
activity does not increase forever. This is because a point will be reached when the
enzymes become saturated, and no more substrates can fit at any one time even
though there is plenty of substrate available.

Source: Bam.Files.Bbci.Co.Uk, 2022, https://bam.files.bbci.co.uk/bam/live/content/z9cmsbk/large.

As the substrate concentration increases so does the rate of enzyme activity. An

optimum rate is reached at the enzyme’s optimum substrate concentration. A continued
increase in substrate concentration results in the same activity as there are not enough
enzyme molecules available to break down the excess substrate molecules.

Metabolism:

“Metabolism refers to a series of chemical reactions that occur in a living

organism to sustain life.”

Metabolism is the total amount of the biochemical reactions involved in

maintaining the living condition of the cells in an organism. All living organisms
require energy for different essential processes and for producing new organic
substances.
The metabolic processes help in growth and reproduction and help in maintaining
the structures of living organisms. The organisms respond to the surrounding
environment due to metabolic activities. All the chemical reactions occurring in
the living organisms from digestion to transportation of substances from cell to
cell require energy.
There are two types of metabolic process:
● Catabolism – This process is mainly involved in breaking down larger organic
molecules into smaller molecules. This metabolic process releases energy.
● Anabolism – This process is mainly involved in building up or
synthesizing compounds from simpler substances required by the cells.
This metabolic process requires and stores energy.
Metabolism is related to nutrition and the existence of nutrients. Bioenergetics
describes the metabolism as the biochemical pathway through which the cells
obtain energy. One of the major aspects is the energy formation.
 The processes of metabolism depend on the nutrients that get digested to produce
energy. This energy is necessary to synthesize nucleic acids, proteins and other
biomolecules in our body.

The Role of Enzymes in the Digestive System:

Chemical digestion could not take place without the help of digestive enzymes.
An enzyme is a protein that speeds up chemical reactions in the body. Digestive
enzymes speed up chemical reactions that break down large food molecules into small
molecules.

Digestive enzymes are released, or secreted, by the organs of the digestive system. These
enzymes include proteases that digest proteins, and nucleases that digest nucleic acids.
Examples of digestive enzymes are:

Amylase, produced in the mouth. It helps break down large starch molecules into
smaller sugar molecules.
Pepsin, produced in the stomach. Pepsin helps break down proteins into
amino acids.
Trypsin, produced in the pancreas. Trypsin also breaks down proteins.
Pancreatic lipase, produced in the pancreas. It is used to break apart fats.
Deoxyribonuclease and ribonuclease, produced in the pancreas. They are
enzymes that break bonds in nucleic acids like DNA and RNA.
Bile salts are bile acids that help to break down fat. Bile acids are made in
the liver. When you eat a meal, bile is secreted into the intestine, where it breaks
down the fats.
Uses of enzymes (ECONOMIC BENEFITS):

1) Enzymes are used in washing powders –

Biological washing powders contain enzymes, as well as detergents. The detergents

help greasy dirt to mix with water, so that it can be washed away.
The enzymes help to break down other kinds of substances which can stain
clothes.
They are especially good at removing dirt which contains colored substances from
animals or plants, like blood or egg stains. Some of the enzymes are proteases,
which catalyze the breakdown of protein molecules. This helps with the removal of
stains caused by proteins, such as blood stains.
Blood contains the red protein hemoglobin. The proteases in biological washing
powders break the hemoglobin molecules into smaller molecules, which are not
colored, and which dissolve easily in water and can be washed away. Some of the
enzymes are lipases, which catalyze the breakdown of fats to fatty acids and
glycerol. This is good for removing greasy stains.
The first biological washing powders only worked in warm, rather than hot, water,
because the proteases in them had optimum temperatures of about 40 °C.
 However, proteases have now been developed which can work at much higher
temperatures. These proteases have often come from bacteria which naturally live
in hot water, in hot springs.

2) Enzymes are often used in the food industry –

Fruit juices are extracted using an enzyme called pectinase.

Pectin is a substance which helps to stick plant cells together. A fruit such as an
apple or orange contains a lot of pectin. If the pectin is broken down, it can be
much easier to squeeze juice from the fruit. Pectinase is widely used commercially
both in the extraction of juice from fruit, and in making the juice clear rather than
cloudy.
Enzymes are sometimes used when making baby foods. Some high-protein foods
are treated with proteases, to break down the proteins to polypeptides and amino
acids. This makes it easier for young babies to absorb the food.
There is a great demand for sugar in the food industry. Not only is it used in
making many sweet foods, but it can also be supplied as a food for
microorganisms used in making food substances. As well as getting sugar directly
from sugar cane and sugar beet, it can be made from starch. The amylase digests
the starch to maltose, making syrup. Some sugars are sweeter than others.
Fructose, for example - a sugar found in fruits - is sweeter than most other
sugars. People who really like sweet things, but are worried about eating too much
sugar, may prefer to eat fructose rather than glucose or sucrose, because they can
get just as much sweet taste with less sugar. However, most of the sugar we get
from plants is either glucose or sucrose. An enzyme called isomerase can be used
to convert glucose into fructose.

3) Applications of enzymes in medicine -

To treat enzyme related disorders.
To assist in metabolism
To assist in drug delivery.
To diagnose & detect diseases.

4) Here are some examples of enzymes and their uses.

Amylases - used in textile and paper production
Ficin - used in photography processes
Pepsin - used in the pharmaceutical industry
Bacterial proteases - used in making leather, textiles and in laundry
Catalase - used in rubber production
Taq polymerase - used in amplifying DNA found at crime scenes
Resources:

Books:
● IGCSE Biology course book (2ed edition.) By- Mary Jones and Geoff Jones
● MYP by concepts 4 & 5. By- Andrew Davis and Patricia

● MYP Biology 4/5: A Concept Based Approach. By- David Mindorff and Andrew Allott

Websites:

● “Sciencenutshell.com Is for Sale.” HugeDomains.com,

www.sciencenutshell.com/commercial-applications-enzymes/.

Videos:

● virtualschooluk. “Enzymes | Cells | Biology | FuseSchool.” YouTube, YouTube, 18

July 2017, www.youtube.com/watch?v=rlH1ym916Fo.
● donttellteacher. “Enzymes- a Fun Introduction.” YouTube, YouTube, 7 May 2012,
www.youtube.com/watch?v=XTUm-75-PL4.
● virtualschooluk. “Digestion by Enzymes | Organic Chemistry | Chemistry |
Fuseschool.” YouTube, YouTube, 10 Aug. 2014,
www.youtube.com/watch?v=aQX8AkbuzjY.
● “Enzymes and Their Use in Industry - National 4.” YouTube, YouTube, 24 Aug. 2015,
www.youtube.com/watch?v=tM6jNttMaCw.